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A panoramic view of ongoing demolition work at the old Bata Shoe Factory in Batawa, Ont., which is slowly being demolished and transformed into a state-of-the-art condominium, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013. JEROME LESSARD/The Intelligencer/QMI Agency

The building where several thousand people once worked is slowly being transformed into a state-of-the-art condominium, using the latest green technology.

By October, nothing but the rounded concrete columns and floors will remain on the five-storey structure.

Those columns and floors will form the skeleton of a new building.

Gone will be the ugly metal cladding that covered glass and brick in the 1970s.

When finished, the famous shoe factory, constructed in 1939, will resemble the original structure developed by the Bata Company in Zlin, Czech Republic.

The concept was based on the functionalist principles of the classical Bauhaus Period.

It consisted of a modular system of round vertical columns, steel reinforced concrete slabs, brick parapets and large expanses of industrial glazing.

That same architecture will be used in the design of the new building.

"We're starting from the beginning," said Batawa Development Corporation (BDC) general manager Heather Candler. "We're using some of the principles that have been used on many Bata building around the world."

Once industrial facilities, those structures have been converted to office buildings, municipal centres, hotels and condos.

"We're still making out way through the design and concept stage. We can't say exactly what the building will look like," said Candler.

But it's bound to impress.

Candler said the BDC should be in a position to begin obtaining permits needed for construction by spring, 2014.

Demolition is well underway on the factory. About 78,000 square-feet of industrial space has been removed.

Crews from Priestly Demolition Inc, headquartered in Aurora, have already demolished the one storey industrial space the surrounded the original structure.

Already there are glass and brick elements of the original design exposed after decades of being covered over by the drab metal siding.

"It's a unique project," said John Phillips, vice president of operations for Priestly.

The company is recycling everything it can, diverting material from landfills. The process is in keeping with Batawa's redevelopment to a green and sustainable community.

Sonja Bata started the process in 2005, forming the BDC. The corporation purchased 607 hectares in and around Batawa that initiated the redevelopment.

At first, it was Bata's intention to demolish the factory. But after several town hall meetings the concept for a new Batawa emerged. The factory was spared the wrecking ball. Dozens of homes, formerly owned by the company for factory employees and built in the 1930s and 1940s, have been razed in the area surrounding the plant.

Those plans developed quickly. The development company received approval for an Official Plan amendment allowing for the rezoning of the factory to a 75-unit condo. By 2007, Quinte West approved a secondary plan approval for the redevelopment of the community.

The city also completed extensive water and sewer infrastructure work, allowing for the go ahead of the condo development.

"We were at a point where we had to move forward with the project," said Candler.